Hero Complex
by Visiel
Summary: Alfred knew he was a hero. He had it all planned out. The only thing was, he didn't really know how well his plans would go. North American Family fic. Warning for a fist fight and some blood  and tears .
1. Timeline 1: Childhood Obsession

It was obvious that Alfred was a hero.

As a child, Alfred was obsessed with hero comics, where the hero saved the day from the evil domination of villains. Alfred had a strong sense of justice, and it was obvious from the comics that he read that Alfred was definitely most likely a hero. He just didn't know what super powers he had.

Of course, Alfred didn't know what his super hero costume would look like, since he never had to transform into a hero before. Of course, Alfred didn't know who his eternal arch nemesis would be. Of course he didn't have a Damsel in Distress (DID). Of course he didn't have a sidekick nor could he fly.

But he knew he was a hero; he had to be.

He knew he would grow up to be a hero, and he'd learn how to fly. He just didn't know how and where he'd learn how to fly, but he knew he had the power and ability to.

In Alfred's blissful childhood, his world consisted of heroes and Captain America, and his family.

Alfred's family consisted of his older brother and caretaker, Arthur Kirkland. Alfred was keeping Arthur in mind in his Possible DID List. Then, there was a nuisance that always annoyed his older brother named Francis Bonne-something. Last names didn't matter. All that mattered to Alfred at that time was the fact that Francis was in his Possible Arch Nemesis List. Then there was his other "twin" brother; his name was Matthew W. He always had a cute polar bear with him, was definitely not a hero, nor his enemy. Therefore, Alfred put Matthew in his Possible Sidekick List.

One day, during this time of his childhood, he asked Matthew to play Heroes with him.

"I'm going to be the hero! Captain…AMERIFRED!" Alfred shouted with a triumphant smile.

"Then I'll be Captain Canuck!" Matthew said excitedly.

Alfred frowned and his tiny brows wrinkled. Something was wrong this picture.

"Mattie, there can't be two heroes, there can only be one, and that's me!" Alfred said with a bold voice.

"That's not fair Alfie! You were the hero last time! This time I want to be the hero!" Matthew cried out.

"I called hero first. Maybe next time you'll be fast enough to call to be hero," Alfred said.

"You're not being fair! I'm not playing with you!"

"Then how can I play hero by myself if there's no one to defeat?"

"Use your imagination. We have plenty of other toys to play with! I'm going to play by myself with Kumajirou!"

With that, Matthew stomped off with his bear friend.

"You could've been the sidekick at least. And at least you have your white fluff ball to play with," Alfred mumbled.

It was true that their house had a whole room filled with toys. But when playing hero, there just wasn't the perfect one. Alfred grew out of the dinosaurs and the cowboys. He had a toy set that Arthur made for him, but that wasn't any fun anymore. On one side of the room, there were board games, but board games were no fun playing alone. Besides, imagination was for chumps; Alfred outgrew imagination because he wanted reality.

Alfred gave up on the toy room and began wandering down the hallways of the house. There were many halls but the structure of the house was not complicated, so he found his way well. With a Captain America figurine in his hand, Alfie started to go down the hallway, towards the kitchen, where Arthur was probably cooking.

Alfred peeked into the lighted kitchen, where Arthur was humming a song, and was mysteriously talking to himself. He sometimes made weird gestures, like patting the air, and laughed in that direction, or said, "Heehee! That tickles~!" Alfred thought it was weird, but it was funny at the same time. There were times when Alfred silently watched Arthur talk to invisible beings and amused himself with it.

Alfred giggled, and Arthur noticed it. Arthur turned from his "cooking" to turn around to Alfie.

"Alfie, why are you alone? Weren't you playing with your twin brother?" Arthur knelt down to Alfie's height and asked.

"I was, but he was being unreasonable so I left him," Alfie said, crossing his arms and raising his chin slightly. He "humph"-ed and peeked out of one eye, hoping that Arthur would be impressed by his manliness.

Arthur just laughed, "Is that so? I'm sure he'll come back to play with you."

"But he said that I couldn't be hero! So he went off to play with his stuffed bear."

"Don't you make up every time? This isn't the first time this happened."

"Of course. He gets lonely every time. It should make him think twice before leaving me alone to play…serves him right!"

"What nonsense are you spouting…" Arthur laughed, a bit amused, by Alfred's thought processes.

"What's so funny?" Alfie asked, a bit annoyed. Arthur was supposed to be amazed by how amazing Alfred was, not laugh at him.

"Nothing, nothing. Now go along Alfie, say sorry to Mattie," Arthur chuckled.

"Say sorry to Mattie? Why? I didn't do anything?" Alfred tried to talk sense into Arthur, while resisting to be pushed out.

Arthur blinked. He wondered if he had to explain this to Alfred as well.

He knelt beside the child again, and looked into his eyes. It was clear that Alfred was confused and didn't know why he had to apologize. Arthur let out a sigh.

"Well, you see….how do I explain this…Alfred, it's not always right to take the spotlight. You are the most important in your opinion, but Mattie is the most important in Mattie's opinion. Mattie wants to play hero as much as you do. Also, there are things that you have to give up even though you don't want to."

"Why do you have to give up on things even if you don't want to? Doesn't it make you sad?"

"Of course it does. But it might bring happiness to others. In a way, I think that's more heroic. Don't you think so too?" Arthur ended with a smile.

Alfred thought for a moment. Then, he smiled a very wide grin.

"Oh! I see! I got it!" Alfie said, then ran off to find his play mate. Arthur watched from the kitchen doorway and let out a sigh of relief.

"Now, back to my cooking…"

Meanwhile, Matthew was playing house with Kumajirou. He was actually having a fun time, when Alfred had to interrupt him during tea time.

"Mattie! I have something to tell you!" Alfred barged in with a bold and serious face.

"What do you want Alfi—hey! You're ruining the cupcakes!" Mattie yelled as Alfred carelessly wrecked the meticulously arranged table.

"I'm sorry!" Alfred blurted out.

Matthew looked at Alfred. Alfred tried to keep his bold face on, but couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. It was the first time Alfred was saying sorry to Matthew directly after all. Matthew thought something was suspicious, but accepted the apology.

"Fine. You should be sorry. I was having a tea party with Kumajirou."

"Not about that—well that too. But I'm sorry I said you couldn't be the hero when we played hero."

"That's okay, I forgive you."

There was a moment of silence as Mattie rearranged the plastic cupcakes.

"Uhmmm….what I'm saying is…you can be the hero next time we play Hero," Alfie said a bit quietly, breaking the silence.

Matthew's eyes widen and his mouth fell open. This was some day!

"Are you being serious about this?" he asked a bit disbelieving.

"Of course! I'll be the monster and you'll have to save the day from me destroying the whole city! Oh…I'm getting so excited just by thinking about it!" Alfred chattered excitedly, grin growing by the second.

By the time Alfred stopped talking about their plans both boys' grins exceeded their face widths.

"Then, he jumped up and hugged me! I really felt like a hero then!"

Arthur simply nodded at the little boy who couldn't bear to lie still in bed.

"We're going to play Hero all day tomorrow! And I'll be the hero this time! You better not criticise me on how to be hero Alfie! Otherwise, I really won't play with you!" the other boy with passive excitement said to the hyper boy.

"Of course! And don't use big words! I don't know what cristasis means!"

"It's "criticise"! "Criticise"!"

"Cridisize!"

"Criticise!"

"Settle down you two," Arthur said, laughing weakly, "You should sleep now, it's getting late."

The two boys instantly calmed down, settle in their twin sized bed. The lamp light was on, and it shone brightly in Alfred's eyes, who was closer to the light than Mattie was.

"Artie, can you close the lights? I can't sleep like this," Alfred complained.

"It's "Arthur", Alfred. And learn how to use "please"," Arthur said, yet turned off the lights for the two to sleep.

"Good night Alfred, Matthew," Arthur said as stood at the doorway, waiting to close the door.

"Good night Arthur!" the two boys said in unison.

"Sweet dreams!" Arthur said, and closed the door.

Under the moonlight, two small boys named Alfred and Matthew snuggled closely together, falling into a deep peaceful sleep.

* * *

**A/N:** Awwww...how cute. They seem so innocent. Heh. This kind of thing won't be happening in the next chapter anytime soon. Reviews are appreciated!


	2. Timeline 2: Teenage Rebellion

Lately, Alfred and Arthur fought a lot.

Alfred was seriously reconsidering to remove Arthur from the Possible DID list. No matter what Alfred wanted to do, there was always Arthur to stop him.

"I'm telling you, I want to go bungee jumping!"

"I'm telling you not to!"

They were outside of their house in the front yard. Matthew was sitting near the two arguing people and hugged his knees. He looked at them with hopeless eyes. Kumajirou was sitting next to him, its face blank. Matthew wanted to stop these two from arguing about petty things. It was enough that Matthew was now being ignored; now he had to endure fighting too.

"Stop it guys, why can't you negotiate?" Matthew tried to ask in vain.

Mattie sighed. How was he going to solve this conflict?

"What should I do, Kumajin?"

"Who are you?"

"Matthew. I'm Matthew."

Matthew sighed again. Even though Alfred and Arthur could still live with each other, these petty fights happened more often than not. Because Alfred and Arthur were so immersed in their conflicts, they slowly began to forget Matthew's existence.

"I wonder when things will go back to normal, like the olden days," Mattie sighed.

"It's won't, and it probably never will," said a voice, and a heavy hand patted Matthew's shoulders.

Matthew turned around to see who it was. The man had medium length, wavy, silky hair, and a stubble. He was blond with blue eyes.

"Francis!" Matthew said with happiness. It was a long time since Francis dropped by.

Alfred and Arthur stopped fighting. They turned to the direction where Matthew had called out Francis' name.

"Francis!" Arthur said with a tone of anger, "You! How dare you show up with your smug face here?"

Arthur started to rant angrily at Francis, who was nonchalantly shrugging everything off. Alfred yawned, bored that the fight was now over. He turned away from the bickering pair and began to walk away.

Matthew stood up to chase after Alfred. He subconsciously grabbed onto Kumajirou and hugged him into his chest while running.

"Alfred!" Matthew called as he tried to catch up with the power-walking young hero.

Alfred turned to see who it was. He grinned when he saw it was Matthew.

"Oh, it's you? Hugging your bear as always," Alfred said, "What do you want to nag at me this time?"

"It's not to nag at you! I just wanted to see if you're okay after fighting with…you know," Matthew said, concerned.

Alfred's face became slightly distorted at the reminder. He scowled but stayed silent. Matthew looked at Alfred, hopefully. They continued walking down the street.

Suddenly, Alfred's face cleared up. He laughed.

"What would I ever do without you?" was all that he said.

For some reason, Matthew was satisfied with this answer. As long as he got recognized that was okay. As of late, he was mostly ignored by both Alfred and Arthur, and it was rare that someone talked to him like this. Matthew laughed along.

"You know, I think it's great to have a friend like you. Let's be together forever like this; how about it?" Alfred asked Matthew, with a lopsided grin.

Matthew smiled glad to have come along with Alfred.

"Of course! I'll always be there for you! Just please don't ignore me, I don't like that," Matthew mock pouted at Alfred.

"Sure thing; that's a hero's duties anyways!" Alfred chuckled, "But really Matthew, you were always like this since we were young. Hopefully, we'll be like this until we're old geezers."

Matthew laughed, especially because of the mocking emphasis on the words "old geezers"

They walked silently down the street, both locked in thought. Then, Alfred sighed. Matthew was taken aback, because he never heard Alfred sigh before. In fact, he never saw Alfred with a face that solemn before.

"What's the matter Alfred?" Matthew asked, concerned.

"Well…I think I want to move out of the house. I can't stand that Arthur's guts anymore," Alfred said, a bit irritated at the thought of Arthur.

Matthew was alarmed. If Alfred was to move out of the house, it would be incredibly lonely in Arthur's house. As well, he would have a friend to depend on any more.

But Matthew resisted saying his true feelings.

"Really Alfred? That's going to be a bit hard…" Mattie said.

"Of course it will be. So I need you to help me!" Alfred said, confidently, his challenging eyes looking into Matthew's timid ones.

Matthew laughed, "What if I said that I wouldn't help you?"

Alfie made a puppy dog face, and pointed to himself.

"Why wouldn't you want to help me? I'd ask that first."

Because I don't want you to leave. I don't want to be left alone. Mattie wanted to say that.

"Well, then, what would you do next?" Matthew asked, curiously.

"Oh well. I'll just either get you to help me, or do it on my own. Actually, I think I'll fight Arthur alone. I just want your support as a good friend, that's all. After all, heroes can't depend on people too much if they want others to depend on you," Alfred laughed out loud with pride.

Matthew chuckled weakly, "Of course…I'll support you…"

Matthew hoped that it would take long for Alfred to prepare his departure.

Along with his chores, Alfred put in his time for preparing to leave the house. He also planned on where to go, and how to survive. He planned that nobody would resist a hero, so that wasn't any problem at all.

Arthur seemed to get a feeling that Alfred was plotting something, so he kept Alfred as busy as possible during the day. Matthew thought back and noticed how much Arthur changed. Arthur used to be mice, docile and a caring, doting brother. He was still a doting brother, but he became a bit prickly, a bit rough around the edge and sour as a lemon. Matthew noticed the changed in Alfred too. Alfred's hyper and optimistic drive didn't disappear, and his self centered ego was still there. But now, he was more rebellious and had more desire than before. Matthew thought about himself and how much he'd changed; but he couldn't find anything that changed for him. Just that he was ignored more often than before.

"Arthurrrrrr~" A sing song voice with a French accent called out. Matthew turned to Francis who interrupted his train of thoughts.

"Bonjour Francis," Matthew said, quietly.

"Bonjour, Matthieu, ça va?" Francis asked.

"Ça va bien. Bien bien content. Merci. Et toi ?" responded Matthew.

He was happy to have a person to speak in French to. Of course, Francis didn't understand Matthew most of the time, saying that he couldn't understand the slang of the youngsters nowadays. Nor did he understand variants of his own, beautiful language. He refused to learn new dialects. He was narcisstic that way.

"Ah, je suis bien. Now where is that rascal of an Englishman?" Francis muttered.

"If you're looking for Arthur, I think he's in the kitchen, "cooking". As usual," Matthew grimaced and emphasized the quotations on "cooking". Francis got the gist and looked a bit disgusted as well.

"How do you boys survive that long while eating that…"cooking"? C'est incroyable!" Francis said.

Matthew chuckled.

"It's all thanks to your occasional visits that we survive. Well, I don't really know about Alfred, but I definitely can't survive without proper food once in a while," Matthew said, a bit weakly.

"Ah, no wonder you are so thin and small now…you could have well outgrown Alfred a few years ago, but that Englishman's cooking has stunted your growth…You must do something about staying in this house, otherwise it will be the death of you. Arthur doesn't let you cook yourself, non?"

Matthew felt a twinge of guilt. He, outgrow Alfred? And going out of the house?

"It's fine, really, you get used to the cooking after a while…" Matthew said as he unconsciously grabbed his stomach.

Francis saw this, and felt sorry for the boy. In Francis' opinion, he went through a hell than Francis could avoid.

"Do not worry; I shall do something about this food problem. À bientôt, Matthieu," Francis said as he left for the kitchen, waving at Matthew.

Matthew waved back, and was going back to his room to read, when he saw Alfred busy walking to and from the nearby rooms. Something was weird with Alfred's behaviour, so Matthew approached Alfred to investigate this.

"What are you doing? You seem so busy," Matthew asked trying to be nonchalant. He peeked over Alfred's shoulders to see a huge duffle bag, half filled with items for travel.

"Oh, it's just you, Matthew. Phew, I thought it was Arthur or someone, I nearly got a heart attack…hey can you help me pack up? I'm planning to leave tonight," Alfred said, his usual cheery voice coming back.

Hey, you're leaving tonight? This soon? That means I won't be able to see you anymore right? Matthew wanted to say those things, but couldn't, again. He was afraid that Alfred would simply shrug it away, thinking that Matthew was being too nosy. After all, all that mattered to Alfred was his own feelings, Matthew thought.

Matthew nevertheless agreed to help Alfred pack his bags. Matthew kept sighing; in fact, he sighed enough times for Alfred to notice.

"What's with all the sighing? You worried about something?" Alfred asked.

"You noticed? I apologize. It's nothing really," Matthew said.

"Of course it's something! You're my best friend, remember that!" Alfred stopped packing and confronted Matthew with his boldest face.

"Well, actually, I was wondering why you wanted to leave this place so much. I mean, we stuck with Arthur since a long time ago, and we were dependant on him. We also still have a lot to owe to Arthur," said Matthew.

Alfred looked relieved. "That's all? Thank goodness it wasn't some sort of jerk that did this to you. Well, I'm leaving because of exactly that reason; I don't want to depend on anyone anymore. I'm a hero that's why." Alfred looked proud.

But Matthew was hurt. It wasn't "just that"; this meant that the family that he loved was going to break apart. This meant that he would be alone because with Alfred gone, Arthur would be too devastated to pay attention to anyone else. This meant that his "best friend" wouldn't always be by his side, and he wouldn't be able to stay by his "best friend's" side forever either.

Matthew had finally snapped. By this time, Alfred slung the bag over his shoulders and was ready to head out the door. He had his bomber jacket with a 50 on the back on, and had his favourite shoes on as well.

"Well, then, I'll be off—"

"Who do you think you are, just leaving as you want?" Matthew shouted, his voice suddenly louder than normal. Alfred was taken aback. He stared at Matthew for a while.

"Be quiet, someone might—"

"I don't care! You say you're a hero, yet you're causing pain to me! And you'll make Arthur suffer as well! Don't you know? This is breaking the family apart!"

"Well I—"

"No more excuses! Sorry to break it to you, but the others are right. You're no hero. And you never will be. Not the way you're trying to solve things. Running away isn't heroic at all! At least fight for your independence! Also, I thought we were best friends! Yet you never told me about when you were leaving, where you were going to go, or how you were going to manage yourself."

"Listen here, but I thought you were on my side. I thought you would support me whatever I did. I know, I'm foolish and reckless. That doesn't mean I'm stupid; I have everything planned out. We are best friends, and because I'm a hero, one day, I'll come back and bail you out of this place too," Alfred said, countering Matthew's argument.

"But I still think that you should confront your fears, Alfred. It's just not right to run away," Matthew weakly added, no longer having anything to say.

There was a silence between the two.

"I guess I'd better go. Before anyone comes," Alfred said, breaking the silence.

"I guess so. Contact me when you reach some place safe," Matthew said. Alfred looked up. Matthew smiled. Alfred then knew that Matthew would really support him no matter what.

"Thanks, you're a great best friend," said Alfred, with a look of sadness on his face.

Alfred opened the door and was about to step out of the house when a shouting Arthur came to the doorway. Francis was clinging on the Arthur, and Arthur was trying to get Francis off of him. He was about to kick Francis out when he suddenly froze.

Arthur saw Matthew standing in front of the opened door, sending Alfred off. The two boys looked at Arthur, mouths opening in horror. Arthur's mouth opened in horror was well and Francis stopped trying to molest Arthur. Instead, he watched this scene with a look of anxiety, concern, and curiosity.

Arthur broke the silence. "Alfred, it would be okay for me if you went out for a walk down the street or something, but what's with the heavy duffle bag? Or perhaps you are…"

A new idea dawned on Arthur's mind, something that was most likely possible.

"Don't tell me you are…!" Arthur said, his voice getting louder and angrier. His face started to turn red with anger as he attempted to charge at Alfred. Francis held him back.

"Lemme go, you flamboyant bastard! This brat needs to learn a lesson or two! How dare you try to leave without my consent?" Arthur waved his fist around, accidentally hitting Francis square in the face.

Matthew backed away. He ran over to Francis, who was kneeling on the ground, clutching the tender place on his face where he was hit.

"That insane son of a…" Matthew heard Francis mutter.

Arthur grabbed Alfred's collar.

"Why are you leaving? Do you think you're free to go as you want? Tell me!"

Alfred shook Arthur off his shirt. He was far taller than Arthur by now, and glared down at the Englishman.

"What makes you think you have the right to boss me around? Sure you took care of me when I was younger. But please stop being such an ass! I need my air too!"

"You finally crossed the line," Arthur said, with a dark chuckle.

The first punch was flown by Arthur. Alfred threw his own punch, and hit Arthur. A fist fight started between the two.

"Hey, Mattieu, do something about this," Francis whispered to Matthew.

"What can I do about this? Even if I want to, I can't stop this now that it's begun!" Matthew squeaked frantically.

Francis and Matthew both watched with horror and hesitation. Then Francis decided to act. By now, the two were tumbling on the floor, punching the hell out of each other.

"Stop! My sweet sunshine, don't do this-" Francis started.

"You stay outta the way!" Arthur shouted angrily at Francis, spitting out blood. Matthew was horrified as Francis was tossed back to where he was, just with a few extra injuries. He was holding his stomach, and Matthew knew that Francis won't be up and lively anytime soon.

Finally, after a long painful 20 minutes of watching, the brawl ended. Alfred, who was much more stronger than Arthur, beat Arthur into pulp.

Alfred then stood up, wiped the blood from his mouth, and caught his breath. He pointed his finger at the laying Arthur, and said with a remorseful look,

"You were the one who said to me that you needed to give up things even if you don't want to, just for another person's happiness. Well, give it up, Arthur Kirkland, and then I'll be much happier without you."

Alfred's breathing calmed down, and he looked at Matthew. His challenging glare was still there, but that soon softened into a soft bittersweet smile.

"I'm sorry, but I'm leaving these two in your care. I can't do much for you right now. This became more messed up than we expected right?" Alfred laughed weakly. His eyes were teary, but it seemed that Alfred was swallowing the tears. Matthew let his roll down his cheek.

"Don't cry; and I'll definitely come back for you. Until then, take care of yourself," Alfred made a gesture of pointing at Matthew, and saluting with that hand, "So long."

The door clicked shut, and Matthew was left alone to cry, a bitter looking Francis, trying not to cry, in his arms, and Arthur was left lying at the doorway, blood and tears mixed together. Arthur covered his face with his hands and rolling up in a fetal position.

Outside, Alfred silently wiped his own tears but did not look back at the house.

* * *

**A/N:** Well. That was some... drama.

* * *

Just a few translations for you (though I'm not all that familiar with French):

_**Bonjour**_ - Hello

_**Ça va? **_- How are you? (informal)

_**Ça va bien.**_- I'm fine.

_**Bien bien content.**_ - Very good (Or something like that, it's a common phrase in Quebec. I think.)

_**Merci. Et toi**_ - Thank you. And you?

_**Je suis bien. - **_I'm fine

_**C'est incroyable! - **_That's incredible!


	3. Timeline 3: Happily Ever After?

It was a hard climb to the top. Well, not really, being the overachiever Alfred was.

But was he really happy? Alfred thought so. The only problem was he didn't know how it felt like to be happy. In fact, you could consider Alfred emotionally retarded. He didn't know a lot of things, yet managed to get to the top of the chain.

To start off, Alfred was always proud of his achievements. He many countless amount of achievements to let him get to the top. Those achievements came with some failures though. Alfred would have liked to cover up those failures, and hoped that nobody remembered them.

However, pride cannot be mistaken for happiness. Alfred always felt an empty hole in his heart, and he blamed it on the stressful atmosphere. It must have been stress, right?

Alfred and Arthur generally got along well. They both remembered deep inside on what happened in the past, but both refused to bring it up. Alfred got a gist that Arthur was trying to bring back that familial relationship that they had between them, but Alfred was determined that he would not be brought down, back to the control of Arthur. He wanted his freedom, and he went a long way for that; there was no way he was going to turn back.

Alfred was still in contact with his brother, Matthew. Though he remembered, with bitterness, that he was going to come back for Matthew, he never did. He felt a bit of regret and guilt, but he knew that the past was too late to change now. Sometimes, he thought that it was lucky to be Matthew. He didn't have as much of a struggle to get out of the house, after all.

"Alfred! Where were you? I was looking all over the place…" Matthew ran to Alfred, a bit breathless.

Alfred blinked. He was still in a thoughtful daze, something he wasn't really used to. Then, a cheerful smile broke out onto his face.

"Mattie! It's been such a long time since I last saw you! Give your brother a hug!" Alfred wrapped himself around Matthew, crushing him in a bear hug. Though they were technically twins, Matthew was still a bit shorter than Alfred. (Maybe it was because of those shoes Alfred was wearing.)

Alfred was too absorbed in hugging his brother, that he didn't notice Matthew struggle to breathe. Matthew pushed hard enough so Alfred let go of Matthew. The smaller brother collapse, gasping for air.

"Alfie! You have to think of how other people feel when they have near death experiences because of you!" Matthew choked out.

Alfred froze. He hadn't heard that nickname in a long time, and is gave him pleasant memories from the past. He felt his heart swelling up in a feeling that he forgot the name of.

Matthew looked up. Usually, Alfred would retort with some stupid answer like, "Yeah, I have such killer looks, right? Enough to make one die for~" but he was too silent.

"Hey, say that again," Alfred finally said, a slight smile playing at his mouth, but his eyes still lost in a train of memories.

"Say what, the near death experience part?" Matthew asked, confused.

"No, the beginning," Alfred said, now grinning, and looking at Matthew, who was standing up.

"What? I don't get…oh," Matthew drifted, realizing how he unconsciously said "Alfie" instead of "Alfred". He said that in a tone that he always used when Alfred, as a child, always teased Matthew. When Matthew whined to Alfred, Alfred would respond by saying "Mattie". Those names from the past also made Matthew happy.

"Only if you call me what you used to call me too," Matthew finally said. Alfred blinked, then nodded with a bigger than before grin.

"Alfie"

"Mattie"

They both stared at each other with a childish delight, and started to laugh. It felt kind of good for both of them, and made them forget their troubles in the present.

Arthur was walking by, when he heard two laughing men. They were both obnoxiously loud, and childish. Arthur frowned and peeked inside the room where Alfred and Matthew were.

The two brothers were laughing, clutching their stomach, tearing up. Now, they weren't even laughing about the names. They were simply being happy. Arthur, with a brow raise, leaned against the doorway.

"What on earth is so funny?" Arthur said, interrupting the laughing of the brothers. They stopped mid-laugh, but for some reason, the raised eyebrow and the smirk on Arthur looked so funny to the brothers that they started their laughing fit again. Arthur was thoroughly confused.

"You…your face…" Matthew gasped out in between laughs. Arthur felt blood rise to his cheeks. They were laughing at his face?

"What the bloody hell is so funny about my face?" Arthur scowled, with his face red. That only triggered more laughs.

Finally, quite possibly because of the aura, Arthur couldn't help but give in laughing. After all, the two brother's looked insanely funny, laughing their butts off about something that they wouldn't usually laugh at.

From downstairs in the kitchen, Francis could vaguely hear sounds of laughing. Smiling to himself, he decided to go upstairs to see what the three were laughing about.

As soon as he got to the room, he was amused. They were laughing at nothing, yet, Francis wanted to join.

"I feel so left out! Why didn't you call me too, huh?" Francis said in a whiny tone, his arms open, heading towards the three. Arthur's mood drastically changed.

"Get away you frog! You're going to ruin the mood!" Arthur shouted.

"Ah, mon cheri, do not be so cold to me! As a way of taking back that comment, you have to let me kiss you.." Francis said, trying to hug Arthur, and puckering his lips. Arthur was pushing away Francis' head, and yelling in an incomprehensible language. Matthew and Alfred couldn't help but laugh at this comic scene.

Thus a day ended, quite merrily. When he got to his own house, Alfred felt accomplished. However, this accomplishment felt a bit different from the other accomplishments made in his life. He felt…happy. And being alone made him feel…lonely. He finally found the words for it.

Happy.

He wanted to be happy with his family.

But there was still a whole future in front of Alfred, right? Alfred smiled to himself, and stared out thoughtfully into the night sky. This was the second most thoughtful moment in his life.

"Good night, and watch out, tomorrow. Because a hero is on the way."

-End-

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, so this end was cheesy, but please don't kill me. And I don't know what Alfred did to "climb to the top" or where he climbed, so I'll leave that in your imaginations.I'm so nice aren't I?

But seriously.

* * *

French translation:

_**Mon cheri**_ - My dear. (Term of endearment)


End file.
